The smell of spring is finally in the air! And it’s the month of leprechauns and shamrocks! Meanwhile, here at Shore Poets HQ, we’re delighted to present news of our upcoming March event. With readings from Karen McCarthy Woolf and Jane Bonnyman, open mic performances, and music from Dekoy, this is one you’ll want to be sure to catch (plus, think of all the daffodils and crocuses you’ll get to feast your eyes on on the way there!). Further details below 🌷🍀🎻💚
ALSO! A quick PS FAO anyone who picked up a flyer for the Graveyard Shift event on March 23rd at our February gathering: we’ve been advised that there’s been a change of venue & this will now take place in The Diggers Leith (Bernard St; tram stop The Shore). Our own March event is, as usual (and as detailed below), in the lovely Waverley Bar (upstairs) 💚
The When & the Where:
Thursday 26th March 2026
7.15pm – 9pm (doors open 7pm)
The Waverley Bar, 3-5 St Mary’s St, Edinburgh EH1 1TA
Admission: Our standard entrance charges are £7.50 (waged) and £5 (concession). This includes one raffle ticket, which will also be your receipt of entry. For those keen to increase their chances of a raffle win, we’ve also introduced a Golden Ticket: at £10, this covers entry plus five raffle tickets. Entry is payable by either card or cash, but it’s worth bringing the latter so as not to miss the opportunity to buy a book from one of our readers.
The Readers:
KAREN McCARTHY WOOLF
Born in London to English and Jamaican parents, Karen McCarthy Woolf is the author of three poetry collections and editor of seven literary anthologies. Her novel in verse, Top Doll, was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and her debut, An Aviary of Small Birds, was an Observer Book of the Year.
As a postdoctoral Fulbright Scholar at UCLA she was poet-in-residence at the Promise Institute for Human Rights, where she wrote her latest collection, Unsafe (Bloomsbury, 2026): a ‘taut’ and ‘hypnotic’ (Guardian) poetic meditation on the sacred, the city and our access to nature. In 2025 she won a Society of Authors Cholmondeley Award and the Jerwood Prize for Poetry.
JANE BONNYMAN
Jane Bonnyman is a poet and teacher from Edinburgh. Her work has been widely published in journals including Mslexia, The Frogmore Papers and The Rialto. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University. Her first collection, Date Show, was released last autumn with Blue Diode Press.
Signing up for the Open Mic:
We have four open mic spots each month. These are booked in advance. To request an open mic spot in the future, please email us at shorepoetsedinburgh @ gmail.com (remove the spaces)
The Raffle:
Entry includes a raffle ticket; additional tickets are also available to buy when you arrive, should you wish to increase your chances of winning this month’s scrummy lemon cake. Or you can boost the odds of snaffling that piece of home-baked glory by purchasing one of our Golden Tickets (further details above, under ‘The When & the Where’). The raffle also frequently boasts other no less wonderful but definitely less edible prizes, in the form of pamphlets or books.
See you there!
Shore Poets 
Published by